The Basement Babes 2011 Agenda

If you live in Colorado and would like to come play, just email me and I'll add you to our email list.   All dates are subject to change - life does give us interruptions!

I send out a supply list on the first of the month for that month's event with an RSVP for that month. No, you can't reserve ahead of time!  Most are limited in size as there's just 1 instructor. Most are free.

I personally think we have an awesome lineup for 2011 - with a variety of teachers - yeah!!!


January 20 - Scrap the Crap
This is my most "famous" class that I teach (sells out every time) in San Diego.  It's the only time I'm offering it here!  You simply bring me your worst piece of scrapbook paper and I'll turn it into something you will love!  It's just a truly fun playday....and you'll learn a few techniques too!

February 17 - Circut Boxes
Now, don't turn your nose up yet!  We're going to prime empty cricut boxes, paint them, then make miniature dioramas out of them - scenes - whatever you want.  Susan showed us hers and we all went gaga over it!  Absolutely adorable!

March 17 - BLine Designs
Susan Mostek (cover of Stampington magazine) is going to come up with a fabulous project using BLine stamps.  It's sure to be interactive, or have some pop-up content to it. So if you love cards that move - this will be great fun!

April 21 - Fabric Paper
Kathleen Sigg - famous Colorado instructor - former art student of my mom - is goig to teach us how to make fabric paper....I can't wait for this one!

May 18 - Chari Hogsett - former owner of the Pampered Stamper - will teach us how to make a card out ofa CD. Seriously? Really?

June 16 - Peg Harper - the most amazing polymer clay artist ever - her items can be found at the Bead Lounge in Longmont - will be sharing polymer clay techniques with us.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

June 25 - well, this is THE day I'm waiting for.  If you know what/who "Lipstick Ranch" is - we are going to attempt (and I'll use that word loosely here) to make our own version of KC Willis's fabulous fabric collages.

July 21 - our annual road trip to the Stamp House in Canon City.  Judi - if you are reading my blog carefully, this may be your ownly warning!  LOLOL!!!  We will also make a stop at Simple Pleasures in Colorado Springs and then our "must do" - blackberry pie at the Black Bear Diner.  Oh! Yummm!!!

August 18 - Shelly Newkirk will be driving all the way from Nebraska to teach us loads of techniques including paper towel art, paper quilting and new things to do with glimmer mists.

September 15 - our annual road trip to Estes Park, just in time to hear the elks calling!  Leaves turning - this is always a wonderful trip. We'll head to our fav store up there - owned by the lovely Cheryl Grigsby, and then a stop at Judy Hess's - the best Stampin' Up rep in the world!  She always has wonderful surprises for us when we go. Hey Judy, I hope you'll be home that day!  LOL!!!

October 20 - I'm calling this the Great Surprise. Our newest member, Cathy Adarns, just returned from a trip with Tim Holtz, and we're giving her almost a full year to come up with something wondeful to teach us!  I really can't wait!

November 17 - Our annual white elephant craft exchange.  We take the worst craft item/product/whatever we have, wrap it up tight, and pile it in the middle of the room and turn it into a white elephant exchange.  It never fails that someone brings something wonderful that gets exchanged multiple times.  It's just the most fun ever!  We made snow globes this year and have agreed we want to re-make them next year.  So you have an entire year to hunt down contents, find the perfect glass jar, and decide just what you want to make!

An amazing lineup with fantastic facilitators/instructiors.  It's going to be such a fun year!!!

Shopping Saturday in June

I really have some crazy, fun art pals! Today we went shopping - carpooling and heading about an hour up north to Ft Collins. Our first stop was out in Kellum to Waste-Not recycling. They are only open one Saturday a month and they have so much fun stuff. Karen bought a table. I think it retails for $600. It's an office table with adjustable legs and wheels on it. She got it for nothing.....but the problem was getting it into the back of Kelly's truck!!!



So Claire and Kathy decided to help out. I don't know how on earth Karen is going to get it out when she gets home....but I had a few giggles watching these gals pose for this "photo op".

I'm not so sure who ended up buying the most, but the back of my Escape started filling up pretty fast today!


I got 3 unopened boxes of transparencies for $3 each and they usually run close to $50 at Office Depot.

And my big find - an LCD projector!!! Now, these usually run $400 and upwards for used ones on ebay and up to $5K if you buy it new. It works, and I got it for $192. I'm estatic! I can use it at the metal clay conference and not have to wait for anyone to come hook me up. Plus, I can use it to project images onto the wall to sketch, then paint.


and then I got 200 of these little 1/2 oz pour/mixing cups for $2.00!!!

All that at the recycle center! We also made a stop at JoAnns, the Treasure Box, the Creative Underground and Habitat for Humanity (a thrift store). Somewhere in there, we had lunch at the Olive Garden! So you can only imagine how completely exhausted I am tonight.....but I'm off to go play with my new (used) LCD projector!!!

The Lucy McGoo (Basement Babes) Fall Retreat

I'm NOT taking reservations yet, but if you think you'd like to fly in for a fun filled weekend, send me an email and I will put your name on my "list".

October 9 -11, 2009

It's totally free - but you have to get here on your own, bring food, tools (and such) and either sleep on the floor or an air mattress.  We had a total blast last year and I think this year will be so much better!  And we're expanding just a little!!!

Invites will go out first to those who attended last year, then to my yahoo group, then I will open it up to anyone who has sent me a note.

It would be worth the price of airfare....since airfare is so darn cheap right now!

And if you want to come and be an instructor - email me and we'll chat!

Plans are in the works and I think this fall - we'll really have fun playing!!!

The International Basement Babes

Once a month, I have a group of local artists come play at my house. We used to meet in the basement....and thus the name "Basement Babes". Shelly would drive over from Nebraska when she could make it....and Rose would come from Wales - yes - as in fly in from the United Kingdom to play!!!

Here's Susan & Marcia - 
Kelly drives about 45 minutes to come and play. Nancy came over from Nebraska with Shelly:
Rose came from Wales - her 4th time to Basement Babes!

Kathy drives almost an hour from the other side of Denver.....
Karen lives here, Shelly is from Nebraska.  They were pen pals for 10 years....and now come to play with me!

Kerry had to spend the day working in his office, so Hayden (Rose's husband) got in a lovely nap!!!

I am so honored that these women come here to play.  They inspire me beyond words.  And I learn so much from each one of them.  Seems that we have a group of about 20 or so....but each month it seems to change depending on who can come and who can't make it.  Oh, Sherri popped in for lunch and a quick visit and I didn't get her photo this month!  I keep forgetting that we agreed to do a group photo each month...I'm going to have to stick a note on the fridge!

So much fun to have a group of such extremely talented artists in my "neighborhood"!!!  Definitely "international" at this point!!!  It's the 3rd Thursday of almost every month so if you can fly in, just let me know!!!  I promise, we'll treat you like a celebrity....until you've been here 4 times....then you're just another one of us....playing for a day, gabbing, chatting, eating, sharing, laughing and giggling.  Oh my - it's definitely cheaper (and better!) than therapy!!!

Cricut craziness

Today was basement babes. More interesting photos tomorrow.....but we mostly shared cricut secrets. I think I went a little crazy!!!



But the more I started to layer and add...build it all up....the more I love it.



Of course, I will ink, color, embellish, add to this hopefully tomorrow. But what a fun day!!!

Basement Babes is officially an international group as this is the FOURTH time Rose has joined us from Wales....so she's no longer a guest...she's part of the group! How much fun is that???

Priceless childhood memories

Today was my Basement Babes group and I had instructed the gals to bring their favorite chocolate food - and share their recipes. But I decided to share a story with them because sometimes, a story is much better than anything else!

The thing I remember most about Christmas as a kid is that every year, we got dad a box of chocolate covered cherries, a jar of maraschino cherries and a jar of marshmellow cream. And mom got a box of assorted chocolates from Russell Stovers.



No, we didn't have soda, but I added it over the years. I had a period of drinking Diet Pepsi, then Diet Coke, then Diet 7-Up! I'm not sure if one would call that progress or not, but my sons grew up with these items each year at Christmas as well.


I remember the chocolate covered cherries - they just melt in your mouth.  And you know what, they are still just as good as they were 40 years ago!!!

Dad would dip a cherry in the marshmellow cream....or just put the cream on a knife and lick it.  Of course, he was doing it to torment all of us kids because we wanted it, too!!!

Back in those days, they didn't put a diagram of the chocolates on the inside of the lid.  So we would open the box of Russell Stovers, turn each piece over, and poke a hole in the back.  That way, you could tell what was in the inside of it!  For some reason, no one would eat the ones with the pink insides.  I guess that still holds true today!

And to get the caramel filled ones.....well, that was like winning the grand prize! Now that I'm my age....I always get the caramels!!!

You just can't put a price on memories like this!  Nor can you put a price on days like today!  We made cards this morning, ate chocolate, ordered pizza for lunch, did a gift exchange, then made more cards.  

Amazing friends! Incredible fun!!!  A perfect day - with a touch of priceless childhood memories!

The Basement Babes

Yesterday was the one year anniversary party of the Basement Babes - a group of local artists that meet and play once a month in my basement studio. I knew we were going to have a fun day, but never expected to laugh quite so hard as I did for so long!



That's Cherri and Jane, and yesterday was their first day with the group. Seems we gain and lose members every month - people move, go back to work, change vocations - it really has taught me the "circle of life" because when someone leaves, someone new joins in.



We tried the head tilting thing, but of course, I forgot to turn the flash on my camera on!




And proof of 2 things, I can't take a photo, and head-tilting doesn't always work! Oh, that's Tuesday Susan on the right! We tell Susan to come on Tuesday instead of Thursday, so we can have extra fun with her!!!

And I know this next photo is horrible - but sometimes you just laugh so hard you can't sit still!!!  Notice, Colleen on the far left is NOT wearing a hat?  Yes, we all wore hats and scarves to lunch as part of the celebration.....

So we fixed her!  We put All of our hats on her!!!  LOLOL

Judy joined in the fun - she just looks so cute in a hat!!  She should definitely wear them more often!

Shelly drove 5 hours to join in the fun, spent the night and is still here this morning!  Of course, she has an agenda - she's going to "help" me finish getting ready for my garage sale!  I think she's really going to go "shopping" in my garage!!!   What she doesn't know is that I'm going to put her to "work" in just a few minutes!  LOLOL!

I know that these women have altered my life this past year!  I look at things so differently.  When I saw Kathy in her hat in the shadows, I saw "lace" across her forehead.  Now I really doubt I would have "seen" that a year ago!!!

I don't think any of us knew that Peggy is a professional cake decorator.  She totally surprised us with a cake made in the image of Lucy McGoo!!!  I just yelled with delight when she took this out of the box!!! 

I dont' think I could grab my camera fast enough and no one wanted to cut into her - but I guess we were supposed to because it didn't take long before we were devouring cake and ice cream - after a whole day of eating chocolate, chips, dip, and more!  Well, how on earth can one be creative without something to eat???

Well, yes, we did actually create.  I was a bit slow and didn't get photos of what everyone did, but here's my project.  This is a variation of a class I took from Tim Holtz in 2006 at the Artist's Nook un Ft Collins.  We used some old Junkitz tiles that I still had, some wings and keys and some Tim Holtz do-dads from Design Originals. These are truly the world's smallest collages as the top one is about 1 1/4" square and the bottom one is about 1 1/4" by 3/4".  Each tiny element is cut out, inked, and then collaged together.   



When I get photos from the others I will post more about the day. But for now, just know that it truly was one of the happiest, most fun, most giggled filled days of my life!

If you don't have a group of friends like this - start one! It just does the soul good to sit and laugh!!!

Lucy's Play Date

Every now and then, I host a play date at my house. It's all about finding the child inside of you and letting her play. Today....a perfect play date! Eleven of us, gathered in my basement studio for chocolate, food, and creative play! Here's Shelly & Karen:



And Kathy:



From left in the back, Tanny, Karen, Sherri, Peggy
In front, Shelly, Judy, Rose, Kathy & Kathleen

Colleen & I were taking the photos.



We all had lunch at Zamparelli's where I presented Nancy with her new cigar box purse. I do think she liked it!



Today, we made star books with tags using the Bind-it-all. Here's one that Shelly did using bosskut dies. Oh dear...I might have to have some of these dies. They are just so delicate and intricate..I just love them!



Karen did this one using stamps



And Peggy made this one using 3D pop-ups:



Mine is called "My ABCs"



And it's made to look like a sampler:




I used Ranger ink to distress the tags and tried to place the pages in the color of a rainbow







It seems that every time we meet, there are always leftovers from lunch. The girls will put them in the refrigerator to keep throughout the afternoon. But every time, Sherri seems to leave hers behind. So today, she literally put her car keys on top of her leftovers inside the refrigerator. That way, she couldn't go home without it! LOLOL!



Such an amazingly talented and fun group. I am so honored to have each of these gifted women as my friends.

Good food, chocolate, friendship and creative play. Life is perfect!

Let's Play Monopoly

As a child, I loved to play monopoly. It was the game that lasted forever....and ever! Today was my "Third Thursday" play group. There were 10 today....we call ourselves the "Basement Babes" and everyone comes to my house to play. Some of the most incredible artists in the industry (in my opinion) and they all gather in my basement studio to play. Today...we altered cigar boxes. I decided to make mine a Monopoly purse. It really is all about playing the game of art!



Well, I got a glare, turned the flash off, and this one came out too blue...I just can't win with my camera! The papers are all EK Success game papers inked with Ranger's Vintage Photo distress ink.



But you get the idea! I borrowed a handle from a Judy Stonhouse purse...and then altered it by drilling holes through dice, adding monopoly card tops to wood blocks and adding a couple of alphabet beads. Love how this handle came out!



And do I ever do anything without collage? Sometimes I wonder...but just a little corner of game pieces, brads, odds and ends:



This is actually a key chain. I cut the chain part off and inked it with alcohol inks and then used E6000 to adhere it to the front of the box:



It flips open, a drawer slides out and you can actually play this miniature game!!!



Stuck a piece from a wood yardstick on one end:



And this is the back:



I hope to do a whole series of game boxes....and then find the game in the size that will fit inside the box. Don't you think this would be a cute way to store and display games? I can just see a whole row of these on the shelf. Now, who wants to come over and play monopoly with me!!!

I just love the Basement Babes....they keep my creative juices flowing and it's fast becoming my favorite day of each month! You know, we had play groups in Kindergarten.....I think it's great to have play groups as adults! The bonus part is that it forces me to clean my studio at least once a month!!!

Monopoly. Just another way to play the game of art!